Kasim Sumaina in Abuja
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Thursday launched the National Movement for Safe Loading and Safe Road Use at the National Breakfast Policy Dialogue in Abuja, with a call for shared responsibility across the transportation value chain to end unsafe loading practices.
The event, convened in partnership with Business Day Media Limited, brought together government agencies, transport operators, cargo owners, regulators, civil society, and the media with the theme: ‘Ending Overloading, Saving Lives: A National Commitment to Safer Roads and Responsible Transportation in Nigeria.’
The Corp Marshal, FRSC, Shehu Mohammed, noted that overloading is not just a traffic violation but a road safety, infrastructure, logistics and economic development issue.
Mohammed explained that excessive loads compromise braking, steering, and vehicle stability, adding that it accelerates vehicle deterioration, increases crash rates, and contributes to the premature deterioration of Nigeria’s road infrastructure.
According to him, the danger also lies in mixed and improper loading, including the combination of passengers and cargo, incompatible or dangerous materials, and poorly distributed loads which put drivers, passengers and other road users at risk.
He added that: “A vehicle must carry only what it is designed, licensed, and safely configured to carry. No reduction in transportation costs or commercial benefit is worth the loss of human lives.”
Mohammed maintained that Nigeria’s economy depends on the safe movement of agricultural produce, raw materials, manufactured goods, fuel and other commodities, add that a safe transport system is the foundation for prosperity.
“When overloading damages our roads, government bears the cost. When it damages vehicles, operators bear the cost. When it delays the movement of goods, businesses and consumers bear the cost. But when it causes a fatal crash, a Nigerian family bears the cost that money can never replace,” he said.
He stressed that enforcement alone cannot end the problem.
“Responsibility must be shared by cargo owners, shippers, loading agents, transporters, fleet operators, drivers, regulators and government.”
He urged cargo owners to accurately declare weights, operators to maintain vehicles and comply with limits and drivers to refuse unsafe or poorly secured loads.
Regulators, he said, must strengthen weigh infrastructure, data sharing and coordination.
The corps marshal added that FRSC will intensify enforcement, public education, intelligence-led operations and the use of technology to drive compliance, shifting from reactive enforcement to proactive and preventive road safety.
On the adoption and signing of the Abuja Declaration 2026, he said the declaration must go beyond ceremony to become a national compact with clear responsibilities, measurable commitments, timelines and monitoring mechanisms.
“Our assessment will not be measured by the quality of our speeches or the number of signatures. It will be measured by what changes on our roads. Are fewer vehicles overloaded? Are cargo weights properly declared? Are crashes and fatalities reducing?” the official asked.
He called on all stakeholders to ensure the National Movement for Safe Loading and Safe Roads becomes a movement of action, stating: “Our roads must carry Nigeria’s goods. They must carry our people. They must carry our economic aspirations. But they must not carry avoidable deaths.”
He however thanked participants and stakeholders even as he expressed hope that the dialogue would mark a decisive turning point for safer roads and a stronger Nigeria.
Speaking in similar vein, Director General/Chief Executive Officer, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Jibrin Baba Ndace, urged drivers, transport unions and regulators to treat passenger safety as non-negotiable and to ensure vehicles are not overloaded or poorly maintained.
Ndace, who doubles as the keynote speaker, recounted two near-fatal road accidents in Kaduna and Kano States, using his experience to call on drivers to listen to passengers and prioritize safety over speed.
He narrated how a vehicle he was travelling in developed a fault near a NYSC camp in Kaduna shortly after dusk.
“The driver saw a tire on the road. It was almost getting dark and he applied the brakes and the vehicle somersaulted. The vehicle turned to its side. The driver was down. I was in the front. I was up. The glass was broken, but we were all lucky to survive,” he said.
He said he escaped through the broken windscreen and helped other passengers, mostly women, out of the wreckage before assisting the driver last.
“The lesson there is that sometimes drivers don’t listen to passengers even when you caution them,” he noted.